Sole-margin cementing machine



Dec. 12, 1950 H. MULHERN ETAL 2,533,497

SOLE-MARGIN CEMENTING MACHINE Filed Dec. 11, 1946 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Invenior LaurenceHNuZhern Dec. 12, 1950 H. MULHERN EI'AL 2,533,497

SOLE-MARGIN CEMENTING MACHINE I I Filed Dec. 11, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 In venior a Lg urenqeHNuZhern Mcholas ardll Patented Dec. 12, 1950 UNITED STATES TENT OFFECE chinery Corporation, Flemington, N. 3., a corporation of New Jersey Application December 11, 1946, Serial No. 715,430

1 Claim.

This invention relates to sole-margin cementing machines and particularly to a machine having means to eliminate bubbling in the cement after the latter has been applied to the sole. The invention is illustrated as embodied in a machine of the type shown in Letters Patent of the United States No. 2,073,647, granted March 16, 1937, on the application of C. A. Newhall.

In connection with the preparation of shoe soles for embodiment in shoes in which the soles are to be attached to uppers by means of cement, it is sometimes found that, after the cement has been applied to the sole and before the sole is attached to the shoe, bubbles appear in the cement which give a good deal of trouble and prevent perfect attachment of the sole to the shoe. In some cases where the type of cement is such that it h'ardens quickly, the difficulty results in the formation of so-called craters around bubbles which have burst and these craters constitute hard ridges preventing an even application of the solvent which is used for the activation of the cement coat, just before the sole is applied to the shoe. In another type of cement, a skin forms over the bubble which is strong enough so that it does not burst but which later prevents the portion of the sole lying under the bubble skin from being firmly attached to the shoe. One way of avoiding the diificulty lies in the application of a watery solvent to the sole just before the cement is applied and this has been resorted to where the difficulty has been extreme, even though application by hand was necessary. The hand method of application, however, is wasteful of solvent and productive of imperfect results because the solvent evaporates so fast that the same effect on the cement will not be experienced at opposite ends of the band of solvent.

It is, accordingly, an object of the invention to provide means for preventing bubbling in soleattaching cements by applying a band of solvent to the sole just ahead of the application of the band of sole-attaching cement and in the same operation.

In order to expedite the application of cement to a shoe sole in a marginal band extending at least around the forepart of the sole, machines such as that illustrated in the aforementioned patent have been arranged to feed the sole substantially automatically and in so doing to hold it against a gage having spaced contact points by means of a so-called cross-feed mechanism which continually urges the sole inwardly against the gage as it feeds it forward. With such a feed and gage mechanism, it was found that a uniform band of cement may be spread on the sole if the applying nozzle is positioned closel adjacent to the second-encountered contact point of the gage.

A feature of the invention resides in the provision, in a machine of this type, Of a solventapplying nozzle which is positioned adjacent to the first-encountered contact point of the gage and which consequently applies its band of solvent to the same portion of the sole which, immediately afterward, is coated with cement. The space between these two nozzles is usuallyof the order of an inch so that the second coating is applied almost immediately after the first coating. The viscosity of the solvent as delivered by the first nozzle, however, is such that it' almost immediately permeates the roughened sole and has an opportunity to be effective in preventing bubbling.

This and other features of the invention will best be understood from a consideration of the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the principal operating parts of the cementing machine to which the invention has been applied;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the two nozzles of the modified machine;

Fig. 3 is a partial side elevation taken in the same direction as Fig. l and showing the nozzles and gages on a larger scale; and

Fig. 4 is a plan View on the same scale as Fig. 3 of the gages and showing the nozzles in section.

As in the patented machine, there is mounted in a frame it! a drive shaft 52 connected by gears Hi to a shaft E15 extending through a bracket [8 and terminating in a disklike feed roll 2E3 which engages the upper side of a sole S which is supported in contact with the feed roll 26 by a supporting roll 22. This latter roll is carried at the end of a shaft 24, journaled in a tilting bracket 26, and receiving power from the shaft l5 by means of intermeshing pinions 28. Another supporting roll 35 is freel rotatable in a bracket32 hinged on the bracket 26 and held at the desired level, as determined by a stop screw 34, by means of a spring 35. This bracket '32 is also used to carry a work table 38.

The path of movement of the sole S presented to the machine by means of the feeding mechanism just described is determined by a gage comprising a supporting plate 46 on which are mounted gage rolls t2 and 3. This latter roll, which is the one first encountered by the margin of a sole being presented to the machine and U moving in the direction of an arrow (Fig. 4), has an overhanging flange 46.

The application of a band 5!! of coating material to the margin of the sole S is effected by means of an elongated nozzle 52 which applies cement received from a receptacle 5 and delivered to the nozzle under pressure by means of a pump 55 having a chain connection 58 to the drive shaft ii. The passage for the cement includes a flexible tube 60 and a shut-off valve 62. The nozzle and its valve are mounted adjustably upon a tiltable arm 64 which is attached to the bracket l8 supporting the feed roll shaft and this arrangement permits the nozzle to rise and fall in accordance with irregularities in the thickness of the sole as it passes beneath the nozzle. The shut-off valve is operated by means of an operator-controlled treadlerod 66 connected to an arm 68 on a rockshaft 16 which is journaled in the frame IE5. This arm is connected by a vertical rod 1-! to another arm 72 on a rockshaft it! which is joined to the shutoil valve 52 by means of a horizontal connecting rod it, which includes universal joints so as not to interfere with the uD-and-down movements of the nozzle. The vertical connecting rod ll serves also to lift the bracket carrying the supporting rolls 22 and Bi] when it has been depressed far enough to compress a spring 38 which engages the inner end of an arm 88' forming a part of the bracket 25. As a result, the cement flow is started as the work is brought up into engagement with the nozzle.

To make the band 5 of uniform width and uniform spacing from the periphery of the sole,

a particular location of the nozzle 52 with respect to the contact point 82 between .the sole and the secondencountered gage roll 52 is required and preferably it is positioned opposite that point or with one end adjacent to the gage contact point and with the line of the outlet openings of the nozzle disposed at an angle less than a right angle with the direction of feed, as indicated by a line connecting the contact point 82 with a contact point i3 5 where the sole engages the first=encountered gage roll A l. Even though these contact points 82 and .84 vary slightly to- .Ward and away from each other, depending upon the .part of the sole which is at the point of operation, it still is true that the band 5% will be of uniform width. Thus, at the toe end of the shoe, the contact points will be slightly nearer to each other whereas, at the incurved portion at the shank of .the sole, the contact points will be somewhat farther apart. The difference, however, is not great and the cross-feed action resulting from the angular relation of the plane of the end of the driven feed roll 29 to the line of feed results in holding the sole constantly against the ages which, although shown here as two separate rolls may be constructed as a single piece having spaced contact points.

To avoid bubbling, a band 90 of fluid solvent having a watery consistency, i. e., a low viscosity, and usually being highly volatile is applied to the sole by means of a nozzle e2 embodying a series of small tubes 9 which deliver the solvent to the sole along a line one end of which is closely adjacent to the first-encountered contact point 84 and, hence, in such a relation to the contact points of the gage that the width of the band and its spacing from the periphery of the sole are substantially uniform throughout the margin to be coated. This nozzle 92 is carried by a perforated arm 96 held by screws 98 on a bent portion its of a bracket H12 which is attached to the tiltable arm 64 carrying the other nozzle 52 by means of a screw m6 passing through an elongated vertical slot we, thus permitting up-and-down adjustment of the bracket. Similar horizontal slots (not shown) may be provided for the holes through which the screws 98 pass. A tubular upper end Ht of the nozzle 92 is connected by means of a flexible tube M2 to a block H4 containing an adjustable needle valve H6 and supported by means of an arm i IS on a plate I20 attached to the frame It. An inverted bottle 522 containing a supply of solvent is also supported on this arm l is and interposed. between the needle valve l l ii and the bot- .tle is ,a shut-off valve 524; which is arranged to :be operated substantially in synchronism with the shut-off valve 52 by means of a connecting rod I26 joining an arm on this valve ,l24 to an arm 1.28 which is secured to the rockshaft Hi.

When, therefore, the operator depresses the treadle-rod fit, both the valve :62 and the valve 52 will be opened, thereby permitting the flow of solvent through the nozzle 92 and the flow of cement through the nozzle 52 for application to a sole at points closely adjacent to the contact points 82 and as on the gage rolls. At the same time the feeding means will be rendered operative by reason of the lifting of the feed roll 22 to support the sole S in contact with the upper feed roll 28. A uniform band 9% of watery sol vent will first be applied to the sole and then a superposed band 59 of cement will be added. For reasons not completely understood, bubbling of the cement will be avoided and only a single handling of the sole will be involved.

Having described our invention, what we claim ,asnew and desire to secure .by Letters Patent of .the United States is:

In .a sole cementing machine, a gage having contact points spaced a substantial distance from one another, sole-feeding means to present suecessive portions of the margin of a sole and constructed and arranged to hold the sole against both contact points and successive, supplemen al elongated coating nozzles positioned each with one .end adjacent to one of the gage contact points and extending away from its gage point to overlie the margin of a sole, said nozzles being arranged to apply cumulative coatings to a band around the sole.

LAURENCE H. MULI-IEBN. NICHOLAS SPUGNARDI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PA PE N I S Number Name Date 1,849,540 Cosgrove Mar. 15, 1932 2,073,647 ,Newhall Mar. 16, 1937 

